The utilization of energy created by the heat and light of the sun and converting it into electricity is commonly known as Solar Power Energy. It was in the 1860’s when solar power technologies was first developed, arising from the distress of industrialist that the current coal, oil and fossil fuels supply would become scarce and limited. Thus, becoming more costly for individual households to afford.

The growing concern has then led to the re-evaluation and re-assessment of the international energy policies and regulations. According to the 2018 World Economy Outlook published by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and the International Energy Agency, the global demand for energy increased by 2.1% in 2017 with a 398 GW of solar PV installed around the world, and, meeting the 2% of global electricity demand.

In which, the rate of installations are influenced by changes, alterations and updates in the policy mechanisms supporting such technology. Nonetheless, this trend is expected to significantly increase in numbers by another 25% by the year 2040.

As one of the fastest developing countries, the land down under has relied greatly on solar power energy as their preferred energy source for decades now. However, it was only then in the year 2015 when the age of solar power technology in Australia underwent a rapid growth. The increasing cost of energy resources like fossil fuels, has led to a significant number of households that are turning into solar energy.

The emergence of government funded incentive programs for the incorporation of domestic and commercial solar power utilization also proliferated. Through the years, solar-powered technology has become Australia’s optimal energy source.

Geographically speaking, the Australian continent is known to have the highest solar radiation per square meter of any continent with an average of 58 million petajoules (PJ) of solar radiation per year, which is approximately 10,000 times larger than the country’s total energy consumption. This has helped increase Australia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to $275 million for every petajoule of energy consumed.

To date, there are 2.15 million or 21% of Australian households are recorded to have Solar Photovoltaic (also known as solar PV) with a combined capacity of over 12.9 gigawatts installed on their rooftops that directly converts sunlight into electricity using a semiconductor cell or solar PV cell. This type of solar power technology is the most common and widely used in households.